There is a growing concern about weight management in the United States and worldwide. The adverse health risks of overweightness and obesity are well known and include increased risk of coronary heart disease, cancer, stroke, high blood pressure, gallbladder and liver disease, osteoarthritis, gout, Metabolic Syndrome and diabetes.
Metabolic Syndrome is a major public health crisis, globally. It is characterized by a group of metabolic risk factors in one person, including: central obesity (excessive fat tissue in and around the abdomen); atherogenic dyslipidemia (blood fat disorders that foster plaque buildups in artery walls); raised blood pressure; insulin resistance or glucose intolerance; prothrombotic state; and proinflammatory state. The underlying causes of this syndrome are overweightness and obesity, physical inactivity and genetic factors. People with the metabolic syndrome are at increased risk of coronary heart disease, other diseases related to plaque buildups in artery walls like stroke and peripheral vascular disease, and type 2 diabetes.
Despite the fact that these health risks are well known, overweightness and obesity are prevalent in the United States. It is estimated that over 60% of American adults are overweight, meaning weighing more than is normal or necessary, especially having more body weight than is considered healthy for one's age, height, sex or build, or having a body mass index (BMI) of 25 to 29.9. Even more alarming, over 25% of American adults are obese. Obesity is defined as having a BMI of 30 or higher. BMI is a mathematical formula based on a person's height and weight. BMI is widely used by health care providers in determining whether a person is overweight or obese because it is closely associated with the measure of body fat, and may predict the development of health problems related to excess weight.
Generally, weight gain occurs when a person consumes more calories than he or she burns. Genetic, environmental, sociological and psychological factors contribute to weight gain, and consequently, overweightness or obesity. Several studies have shown that heredity is linked to obesity. Environmental and sociological factors also influence weight management inasmuch as lifestyle behaviors such as what a person eats and his or her level of physical activity directly influence the amount of calories consumed and burned.
Psychological factors have a significant affect on eating habits. Many people eat in response to negative emotions such as boredom, sadness, loneliness, depression, anxiety, anger and stress. This is referred to as “emotional eating.” Many of these people eat, even when they are not physiologically hungry at all. Weight gain is a natural consequence of this overeating.
Overeating is a significant cause of overweightness. It is believed that there are three interconnected neurological anatomic nexuses that regulate food intake. The nexuses are the hunger center, which is located in the hypothalamus section of the brain, the appetite center, located in the brain stem, and the satiety center, which is connected to the hunger center and the appetite center. This feedback complex is further modulated by adipose tissue, endocrine organs and other humoral factors.
The hunger center is involved in the long term, metabolic regulation of food intake over weeks and months, and controls physiological hunger. When the human body actually requires nutrients, it will manifest this need with hunger or the stomach sensations we all identify as hunger.
Appetite, or the desire or inclination to eat, involves the short-term, environmental regulation of feeding from hour to hour over the course of a day. Appetite, as opposed to hunger, is a learned response to food and can be triggered by sensory cues at times when hunger is not present and eating is not required. Appetite may also be influenced by the psychological appeal of certain “eating behaviors” such as salivating, visualizing, smelling, tasting, chewing and swallowing food. When these eating behaviors have been satisfied, the desire to eat is abated. Many individuals eat when they are not hungry to satisfy their appetite.
It is extremely difficult for many people to lose weight of their own accord. Because one of the factors contributing to overweightness or obesity is psychological, medical treatment alone is often ineffective. Dieting can be successful in the short term, however, dieting is not effective for maintaining a desired weight long term. Most people who lose weight by dieting regain the weight they have lost, plus about ten extra pounds within five years. Behavior modification, i.e. changing habits relating to emotional eating, addresses the psychological factors that influence overeating and weight gain. There is a need for a successful method of promoting weight loss and weight management that provides an alternative to those who are compelled to eat when they are not hungry by providing the sensations necessary to satiate the appetite without the ill effects of excess calorie consumption.
A common method of treatment directed towards appetite suppression is administration of an appetite suppressant, in pill form. The drawbacks of this method of appetite suppression include peaks and troughs in the blood level of the active ingredient because the active ingredient is often not within a therapeutic range, psychological aversion to swallowing pills and user compliance where the pills must be taken at specific times. Another potential method of treatment directed towards appetite suppression is the intravenous, intramuscular or subcutaneous administration of agents that cannot be given enterically. The major drawback of this method of appetite suppression is the impracticality of self-administration. Another potential method of treatment directed towards appetite suppression is surgical alteration of various components of the gastrointestinal tract such as placation, stapling, bypass and other operations on the stomach and small intestines. The major drawback of surgical alteration techniques is a high degree of morbidity, and thus it is almost always reserved as a treatment of last resort. Therefore, an alternative method of suppressing appetite is needed.
Accordingly, the present invention contemplates new and improved methods of reducing weight and diminishing appetite that overcome the above-referenced problems and others.